Memorial of Saint Monica
"The more hidden the divine operation beneath an outwardly repulsive appearance, the more visible it is to the eye of faith." This quote is by the spiritual master Jean Pierre de Caussade, a French Jesuit priest who lived during the 17th and 18th centuries. Fr. Caussade's writings came to mind while reading today's Scriptures. The brief passage from 2 Thessalonians and its words about faith stayed with me for quite a while leading me to reread some of his thoughts on the subject.
In the passage from 2 Thessalonians, the author expresses gratitude that the community's faith 'flourishes' and that love for one another 'grows ever greater'; he boasts of them to other churches about their endurance and faith amidst affliction and persecution. In verse 11, the author prays that God may "powerfully bring to fulfillment every good purpose and every effort of faith, that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you."
In the context of early Christianity, we can surely understand why personal (as well as communal) faith would take ongoing effort. Although faith is a surely a gift, it is a gift which requires love, care, and nurturing as well as effort. The gift itself is only the beginning of a process of a lifetime…the practice of a lifetime. To be able to say (with conviction) that one perceives the action of God when, to all outward appearances, all is repulsive and hideous is quite remarkable and not likely without the labor-intensive faith alluded to in Fr. Caussade's quote.
When I think of Fr. Caussade's 'eye of faith', I realize I have some growing to do. There have been moments when I can identify with his words but have found it particularly difficult to see with the 'eye of faith' when the 'outward appearance' of the divine workings is very personal as well as repulsive. Still, I find it encouraging…it gives me hope. It strengthens my hope—and even my faith—that all is not as I happen to perceive it. God's work is often hidden, my mind small and limited. I pray for a conscious awareness. I pray that God's grace may open my mind and my heart to see with a deeper faith…the 'eye of faith'. May God grant the grace of endurance in this lifelong work of faith.
--Gail Lyman